Trip Report: Just getting on the plane

I'm back!  Having survived two weeks in Asia with nothing more than a few bugs bites and an angry Hong Kong mafia (more on that in another post) it's good to be home.  Trouble with being home is that there is so much catching up to do and the demands of providing new content on the blog coupled with jet lag from a 12 hour time difference make it a challenge.  These travel bloggers I follow who provide content while away have must have ghost writers as I found it very difficult to post while I was away but then again I don't do this as my life 24/7 so with that said hope you'll forgive the hiatus and keep engaged as I relive the experiences of this long planned trip.


What boiled down to the 9th longest continuous flight on record started on a puddle jumper from Washington Reagan National Airport to JFK on American Airlines.  This flight did not have a designated first or business class section but everything else about the flight provided the perks of first class travel meaning lounge access and priority boarding.  For those who don't know this was my first foray  into first class travel so I was all glassy eyed at the treatment and amenities  afforded to me and my travel companion who from this day forward will be known by the porn star name: Diva Ridge   (derived at by 1st pet name and 1st street lived on)

First stop, American Airlines Admirals lounge in DC.  With the airline requirements of early check in a first class passenger is not expected to mingle with the common folks traveling via coach seats so we wait out the time before boarding in lounges.  Being new to this type of travel I was not aware that there were lounges within lounges, meaning first class people apparently don't mingle with business class people either.  Lucky me, as I arrived at a pretty empty lounge.  All the fresh food and beverages (including alcohol, even at 8am) were their for the taking along with nice restrooms filled with upgraded soaps, creams and mouthwash and showers, along with access to free wi-fi, business centers numerous magazines and newspapers.

So it was a bit stressful deciding if I wanted to eat, drink, read or surf the web.  I decided to watch the planes and boy am I glad I did, because look what I spotted.... I'll always be a Steeler fan.

This was nice but I knew better things were to come.  We made it to JFK without issue and we had several hours to kill before the big flight to Hong Kong so were were given passes to the British Airways First class lounge.  This lounge was a tad bit more upscale than what I had just left in DC, again I was in the lounge within the lounge so it was not crowded.  The food and drink selections were more upscale and varied than in DC.  At JFK, because of my status on certain carriers and special things I've acquired throughout my points collecting I could have had access  to several lounges but I assume that this lounge was within the terminal my flight to Hong Kong would depart from and the close proximity to the gate meant that as a first class passenger I wouldn't have to walk far. Cathay Pacific does not have a lounge at JFK so they share with British Airways.  

The grand daddy of all lounges known as the "Wing" is a by product of Cathay and it exists in Hong Kong so I'll review that on its own later. Finally, it was time to board the Cathay Pacific Flight, next post will review the long awaited flight.